Radio: Pop Go The Beatles

The Beatles recorded episodes two and three of their BBC radio show Pop Go The Beatles on this day at the corporation’s Paris Studio in London.

The Beatles always intended to use Pop Go The Beatles to record songs from their pre-fame days. Their 25-minute live sets of mostly original Lennon–McCartney material left them little opportunity to perform the R&B covers that had previously wowed audiences in Liverpool and Hamburg, so these BBC sessions often give the only surviving recordings of a number of songs from the group’s early repertoire.

The Beatles taped a whole album’s worth of material on this day, including three songs that were never recorded for EMI. Four others were yet to be issued on vinyl, making these sessions a fascinating glimpse into their creative process.

They began work at 9.30am, rehearsing and recording the third edition first, which they finished at 1.30pm. Their guests were Carter-Lewis and the Southerners.

The song performed by The Beatles were ‘A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues’, ‘Memphis, Tennessee’, ‘A Taste Of Honey’, ‘Sure To Fall (In Love With You)’, ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’ and ‘From Me To You’. One song, Sure To Fall, was included on 1994’s Live At The BBC collection.

They then recorded show two, between 1.30 and 5.30pm. Their guests in this episode were The Countrymen. Again they performed six songs: ‘Too Much Monkey Business’, ‘I Got To Find My Baby’, ‘Young Blood’, ‘Baby It’s You’, ‘Till There Was You’ and ‘Love Me Do’. I Got To Find My Baby, Young Blood and Baby It’s You were all included on Live At The BBC.

Episode two of Pop Go The Beatles was first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme service from 5-5.30pm on Tuesday 11 June. Episode three was transmitted at the same time a week later.